Gaussian Splatting in Blender: Complete Import, Edit & Render Workflow
Updated Mar 2026
Blender is the most popular free 3D tool, and since 2024 the ecosystem of Gaussian Splatting addons has matured enough to handle real production workflows. You can now import a 3DGS PLY scan, clean up artifacts, adjust colors, composite with traditional mesh objects, and render final frames — all inside Blender. This guide covers the complete workflow using the KIRI Engine 3DGS Render addon (v4.1, free, Apache 2.0) and the PointCloud/Splat Exporter, with practical tips from real-world 3D scanning and modeling experience. If you are coming from photogrammetry or architectural visualization, this guide bridges the gap between your existing Blender skills and the new Gaussian Splatting pipeline.
Tools used in this guide
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1 — Install the 3DGS Blender Addon
The recommended addon is KIRI Engine 3DGS Render (v4.1.0, free, open source). Download it from the KIRI Engine website or the Blender Extensions platform. In Blender, go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install from Disk, select the downloaded .zip. Enable "3DGS Render" in the addon list. The addon adds a new panel in the 3D Viewport sidebar (press N → 3DGS tab). It works with Blender 4.2+ and 5.0. For exporting to other formats (.splat, .spz), also install the "PointCloud and Splat Exporter" from the Blender Extensions platform.
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Step 2 — Prepare Your 3DGS File
Before importing into Blender, check your file with our 3DGS File Inspector (polyvia3d.com/splat-inspector) to see the Gaussian count, SH degree, and file size. If the file is too large (>2M Gaussians), Blender will struggle — consider using our LOD tool to reduce the count first, or our SPZ/SOG compressor to shrink the file. The KIRI addon only accepts .ply format (3DGS binary_little_endian). If your file is .splat, .spz, or .ksplat, convert it to PLY first using our format converter.
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Step 3 — Import PLY as Splats
In Blender, go to File → Import → 3DGS PLY (added by the KIRI addon). Select your .ply file. The addon offers two import modes: "Import as Splats" (full quality, slower for large files) and "Import as Points" (faster, useful for initial positioning and bulk cleanup). For files under 500K Gaussians, import directly as Splats. For larger files, import as Points first, do rough cleanup (delete obvious floaters, crop unwanted areas), then re-import as Splats for the final edit. After import, you will see the Gaussian splats rendered in the viewport using the addon's custom OpenGL shader.
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Step 4 — Clean Up Floaters and Artifacts
Every 3DGS scan has floating artifacts ("floaters") — stray Gaussians caused by motion blur, reflections, or insufficient capture angles. In Blender's Edit Mode, use Box Select (B) or Circle Select (C) to select floaters, then delete them (X → Delete). The KIRI addon also supports attribute-based selection: in the 3DGS panel, you can filter by opacity or scale to quickly isolate low-opacity noise. Pro tip from real scanning experience: floaters tend to cluster at the edges of the scanned area and near reflective surfaces (windows, mirrors). Start cleanup from the periphery and work inward. If you have a very noisy scan, consider running our automatic Floater Removal tool (polyvia3d.com/splat-cleanup) before importing — it uses Statistical Outlier Removal to identify and remove floaters automatically.
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Step 5 — Color Grade and Adjust Attributes
The KIRI addon (v4.0+) includes color grading controls for Gaussian splats: brightness, contrast, saturation, hue shift, and per-channel curves. This is essential for matching the 3DGS scan to your scene lighting. In the 3DGS panel, expand "Color Grading" and adjust to taste. You can also modify individual Gaussian attributes: opacity (fade out unwanted areas), scale (adjust the "softness" of the render), and SH coefficients (advanced: modify view-dependent color effects). All changes are non-destructive until you export — the original PLY data is preserved.
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Step 6 — Composite with Mesh Objects
One of the most powerful features of the KIRI addon is compositing Gaussian splats with traditional Blender mesh objects. Enable "Combine with Native Render" in the addon panel. Now you can add mesh props (furniture, characters, effects), set up lights, and the addon will render the splats and meshes together, automatically merging them into a clean composite. This is how production VFX studios use 3DGS — the scan provides the environment, and mesh objects are placed within it. For architectural visualization: import your building scan as splats, then add furniture models, set up lighting, and render photo-realistic composites.
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Step 7 — Render and Export
The KIRI addon provides two render modes: Real-time (viewport preview at ~30 fps for scenes under 1M Gaussians) and Offline (higher quality, renders each frame individually for animation). For still renders, use Offline mode with "Render Image" (F12). For animation, set your camera path in Blender as usual, then use the addon's "Render Animation" button. The output is standard Blender render output (PNG/EXR sequence or video). To export your edited splats back to PLY for use in other tools, use File → Export → 3DGS PLY. All transforms, deletions, and color adjustments will be preserved in the exported file. If you need to convert the exported PLY to other formats (.spz, .splat, .sog), use our format converter.
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Step 8 — Optimize for Web Delivery
If your final output is a web viewer (not a rendered video), you need to compress the exported PLY before deploying. Use our PLY to SPZ compressor (90% size reduction) or PLY to SOG converter (95% reduction, best for web). For web embedding, use our embed tool to generate iframe code, or host the compressed file and point any WebGL 3DGS viewer at the URL. The workflow is: Blender edit → Export PLY → Compress to SPZ/SOG → Deploy to web.